Is free the future of PC gaming? Not in the US anytime soon

David Perry of Shiny Games has recently proclaimed free games as the next step …

PC gaming may not be dying, abut it is in a state of flux. We're seeing developers and publishersblaming piracy for all the ills of PC gaming, but attempts to rein in pirates with the help of DRM only annoys and mobilizes the legitimate customers of your games. The solution? According to David Perry of Shiny Games, PC games are going to be free.

He points to the Asian market as an experiment in this model. "They had so much piracy that they decided to stop charging for the games. Instead, there'll be a charge for things you might want to use in the game," he said in Belfast, according to the BBC. Companies are to make their money through microtransactions. "Your character might have a plain white T-shirt. If you wanted a nicer one you could have it for a dollar. Or perhaps you could buy a magic sword for a knight for a dollar."

For examples of how this model works, look no further than Korea's Nexon Corporation. Located in Seoul, it specializes in developing these free-to-play games, with a high level of success. Take Crazyracing Kartrider: the game itself is free, but you can pay for licensed karts or new paint jobs. Maple Story is a top-down MMO title that is likewise free-to-play, with certain items being available for purchase using real-world money. It has to be noted that these games exist to allow profit for Nexon only, for-cash trading between players is prohibited; only virtual currency is traded when a player sells an item.

The first attempt at this market by a western developer is EA's Battlefield: Heroes, a free-to-play version of the company's popular Battlefield titles that is geared for a casual audience. The game features simpler graphics in order to work on all machines, and will feature for-pay aesthetic upgrades for your character. Advertising fills the web front-end of the game, but refreshingly none can be found in the game. Is this is a new direction for EA, or simply a way to try to monetize a market segment the company hasn't yet reached?

KartRider is a massive hit in Korea

Ben Cousin's, EA DICE's executive producer, seems to think Heroes has a more targeted audience. "The marketing guys love to come up with snappy titles for market segments. The market segment they came up with for us was 'frustrated restricteds'—people who really want to play full games, and aspire to be gamers," Cousins told Gamesindustry. The idea being that not everyone is going to pay $50 and spend hours to learn the skills and tactics to excel in the full Battlefield titles, so Heroes gives them an easy access point to multiplayer gaming.

The game looks great, and anecdotal evidence says that many members of the hardcore gaming community are looking forward to at least trying it—what do they have to lose?—but it seems aimed squarely at the casual gamer. Even if the casual gamers get hooked however, it's unknown how many of them will be willing to give EA their credit card information for a new hat or T-shirt.

The games that seem to thrive on this model don't feature the latest graphics, and they certainly cast a wide net to find an audience in order to turn a profit, but it's hard to take claims for a "free" seachange seriously. No matter how many people pirate, there will always be a market for companies who want to invest in new engines, or even games with complex peripherals, and those things don't fit well into a game that's given away. In fact, American audiences are often skeptical about anything sold for under retail price, much less given away; it's possible that a simple matter of culture may keep the free games from spreading to anyone but the casual gamers.

With the ongoing success of World of Warcraft and the newly minted hit Age of Conan doing good business on the PC, and American audiences gaming in their homes instead of gaming cafes, it could be a while before gamers ditch their monthly subscriptions for the price of a pair of shoes. Western developers will surely be eying experiments like Battlefield: Heroes in the meantime to see how the American gamer reacts.